Piccadilly Line - Turnham Green

Nicholas Rogers: For years, Chiswick residents have campaigned for Piccadilly Line trains to stop at Turnham Green Station. This has been tied to the overall Piccadilly Line upgrade project, but trains could still stop at Turnham Green without the signalling being upgraded. Will the Mayor commit to a 6 month trial?

The Mayor: Although Piccadilly line trains are physically able to stop at Turnham Green, this extends round-trip times. As the Piccadilly line service is constrained by the size of the train fleet, introducing this change now would reduce frequency overall, which would result in a net disbenefit to customers using the line. As such, Transport for London (TfL) cannot commit to undertake a trial at this time.
Piccadilly line trains are proposed to stop at Turnham Green following the Piccadilly line signalling upgrade, which is part of a major enhancement of services across the line. However, this vital project is not currently funded. I will keep pushing Government for a long-term, sustainable funding deal for TfL, which would enable it to carry out this and other essential upgrades to boost our economy and deliver a green recovery for London and the wider country.
In the meantime, Turnham Green remains very well served by the District line, which is currently being upgraded to enable more frequent services.

Piccadilly Line (1)

Nicholas Rogers: In February 2020, then-commissioner Mike Brown described the Piccadilly Line signalling upgrade as the ‘number one priority’ for Transport for London. Does it remain the number one priority?

The Mayor: My Transport Commissioner, Andy Byford, has made it his top priority to steer Transport for London (TfL) through the pandemic and to secure the organisation’s future funding. TfL and I are committed to working with the Government to agree a sustainable, long-term funding solution. This is the only option which ensures TfL will have adequate funding in the long-term to maintain London’s transport infrastructure and achieve the levels of investment in the transport network that the capital needs to fulfil its crucial role as the engine of the UK’s economy.
Once a sustainable funding agreement is in place, TfL will be in a position to commit to longer-term investment projects, such as upgrading the Piccadilly line signalling.

Piccadilly Line (2)

Nicholas Rogers: If upgrading the Piccadilly Line signalling system is not the Mayor’s number one transport priority, what is?

The Mayor: My number one transport priority is working with the Government to agree a sustainable, long-term funding solution for Transport for London (TfL). This is the only option which ensures TfL will have adequate funding in the long-term to maintain London’s transport infrastructure and achieve the levels of investment in the transport network that the Capital needs to fulfil its crucial role as the engine of the UK’s economy.
Previous long-term investment means in the coming years we will see the planned completion of major upgrades to the District, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; new trains for the Piccadilly line and DLR; the upgrade of Bank station; and the extensions of the Northern line to Battersea Power Station and the London Overground to Barking Riverside. In order for future long-term investment projects to be realised, TfL needs a fair funding settlement from Government.

Disappearance’ of IA 16767 (4)

Keith Prince: TfL’s 2016 Internal Audit Manual contains nothing about an “Integrated Assurance Audit”. Can you confirm what such an audit is and when this designation was created?

The Mayor: I refer to my answer to Mayor’s Question 2021/1971. The reorganisation in October 2017 resulted in separate Internal Audit and Integrated Assurance audit teams. IA 16 767 was allocated to the new Integrated Assurance team. Integrated Assurance Audit refers to a separate team and not a different designation of audit.

Disappearance’ of IA 16767 (5)

Keith Prince: Do you agree with me that all these anomalies emanating from TfL’s explanation of what happened to IA 16767 might lead one to conclude TfL wanted to ensure that no one knew TfL and First Group TOL had finalised a safety audit of First Group Croydon Tram just days before the UK suffered the worst Tram safety incident in over 90 years?

The Mayor: No, I do not agree. I refer you to my answers to Mayor’s Questions 2020/4628 and 2020/4094-4099. The audit was not finalised and Transport for London Executives, TOL, RAIB, SNC Lavalin and the Coroner were informed of the uncompleted audit.

Disappearance’ of IA 16767 (2)

Keith Prince: If IA 16767 had “further work to be carried out” please provide me with documentary evidence and a timeline of that work.

The Mayor: Please see the attached email dated 8 November 2016, between the auditor and audit manager discussing the review of the draft report and highlighting additional evidence required to finalise the draft report.

The Mayor: 1970 RE_ Incident Reports.pdf

12 October 2016 Letter of Engagement for IA 16767

Keith Prince: Your response to question 2020/4630 refers me to a “12 October 2016 Letter of Engagement” for IA 16767. Kindly provide me with (a) a copy of this document and (b) any internal and external communication (emails, letters, handwritten notes) associated with its drafting, dispatch and agreement about its contents with First Group.

The Mayor: The document is included in the response to Mayor’s Question 2020/4635.
The request for “any internal and external communication (emails, letters, handwritten notes) associated with its drafting, dispatch and agreement about its contents with First Group” would require an extensive level of searching to be carried out by Transport for London (TfL). You will be aware that TfL resources are extremely limited at the moment and so searching for and then providing any such documents would not be an appropriate or proportionate use of public resources.

Outsourcing at TfL

Elly Baker: Please list the outsourced contracts at TfL and when they are due for renewal.

The Mayor: Outsourced contracts are defined in HM Government’s Sourcing Playbook as “public services obtained by contract from an outside provider”. Please see the attached table for the full list of contracts for outsourced public services.
Ancillary and other non-core functions that are bought via service contracts, including consultancy, professional services and cleaning services are therefore not included in the list of outsourced contracts.

The Mayor: 1548 Outsourcing at TfL Data.xlsx

Tube Noise, Brent and Harrow Constituency

Krupesh Hirani: In response to Question No: 2021/0957 can you please advise if TfL have now announced their noise and vibration budget for the 2021/22 financial year?

The Mayor: Tackling Tube noise continues to be a priority for me and for Transport for London (TfL), and TfL is continuing its work to address noise and vibration issues on the network, including rail grinding and specific track work interventions aiming to alleviate noise. TfL continues to invest significant funding in London Underground track renewal and maintenance, and also has a dedicated annual budget of £1million for targeted noise and vibrations interventions.
TfL is continuing discussions with the government on its need for further financial support and a long-term capital funding deal. While these financial discussions are ongoing, and until a funding deal is in place which provides long-term clarity, its budget for both targeted noise and vibration interventions, and its wider investment in track renewal and maintenance (which also impacts on noise and vibration issues), remains subject to change. Given this, TfL’s ability to carry out Tube noise related work – particularly long-term and expensive interventions such as Deep Tube Reconditioning – is limited and will likely remain so.
I have asked that TfL officers continue to keep you updated on their work to address Tube noise in your constituency.

Crossrail 2

Leonie Cooper: Constituents would like an update on CR2 – is there any progress to report at all?

The Mayor: As per the Transport for London (TfL) funding agreement commitment secured with Government in October 2020, whilst the Crossrail 2 project development work remains on pause, TfL continues to work with the Department for Transport on a suitable timetable for refreshing the safeguarding directions for the Crossrail 2 scheme to ensure that the latest design is protected from future development. This includes the design for the tunnelled section and underground stations in Wandsworth and Merton and the sections above ground on the South West Main Line through Merton and beyond. TfL continues to work in partnership with Network Rail on this.
Given TfL’s current financial position, there is no viable funding package for the scheme at this time and so I am not in a position to confirm when work on seeking consent can restart. However, to reiterate the answer I provided to MQ 2021/1083 in March, it is highly likely that Crossrail 2 will still be needed in future to support London’s growth and TfL has clearly demonstrated the case for the scheme. The considerable work undertaken by the project team, particularly over the last five years, has now been put into good order, and is ready to be restarted when the time is right.

South Kensington Station

Tony Devenish: Will TfL listen to my local residents with regard to their plans for the over development of South Kensington Station? Do you agree that more modest refurbishments of such properties will be carbon beneficial compared to “knock down and rebuild" a far bigger structure?

The Mayor: South Kensington station serves as a key transport gateway to an area of significant cultural, economic and educational importance for London and the UK.
Transport for London’s (TfL) plans for commercial development at South Kensington station include delivery of step free access for the District and Circle lines and providing new shops, workspace and homes, including 35 per cent affordable housing.The development will be built to modern standards and will be highly sustainable and energy efficient with a 51 per cent reduction on baseline emissions for the development and a BREEAM Excellent rating. This has been recognised by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, whose officer states that the “environmental credentials of the scheme are high and the proposals would comply with relevant policies of the Development Plan, through appropriate on-site carbon reduction, and introduction of energy efficiency and sustainability measures throughout the scheme”.
TfL has engaged extensively with local residents and organisations on the plans over a number of years through meetings with local groups and two well-attended public exhibitions, with over 1,000 residents and stakeholders in attendance.The proposals were also reviewed by the Mayor’s Design Advocates with a report stating:“The panel appreciated the creative way proposals balance a locally sensitive scheme developed in a context of international relevance. Following a very thorough and clear presentation, the panel expressed support for the contextual approach to this complex series of interconnected sites.”

Mayor not being informed of IA 16767 - Trams Management of Operational Risk Audit

Keith Prince: Your response to Question 2020/4628 manifestly fails to answer the question I posed. For the avoidance of doubt, allow me to provide the correct ‘premise’ of my query: By your own admission, for at least 18 months after Sandilands, TfL kept the existence of IA 16767—a safety audit that contains the most timely TfL assessment of First Group’s tram safety system at the time of the crash — from you — and now we know (a) from your opaque response to question 2021/0537— from TfL’s Audit and Assurance Committee and (b) from former TfL Board Member and Safety, Sustainability and Human Resources Panel Chair Michael Liebreich’s 8 April 2021 public letter to the RAIB—from TfL’s SSHR Panel and from TfL’s Audit & Assurance Committee. To rephrase my question: Does it concern you that, as TfL Chair, you and TfL’s primary audit and safety oversight panels were kept ignorant of IA 16767’s existence while you and the Transport Commissioner were making public statements assuring the public of TfL’s full cooperation and transparency with all Sandilands investigations?

The Mayor: I refer you to my previous answers and repeat that in light of the tragic event of 9 November 2016 it was decided that it would not be appropriate to continue with finalising the report at that time. The audit was not completed as the work was superseded by the vital investigations into the Sandilands tragedy. In order for the audit report to be meaningful further work would have to have been carried out in relation to the incident itself. On that basis it was not appropriate for Transport for London (TfL) auditors to try to do this at a time when that work might prejudice or hamper the internal and external investigations into the Sandilands tragedy or pre-judge the investigations findings. TfL Executives, TOL, RAIB, SNC Lavalin and the Coroner were informed of the uncompleted audit.
TfL has co-operated fully and transparently with all Sandilands investigations.

LFB Consideration of a Public Register of Fire Safety Risk Assessments

Hina Bokhari: In answer to MQ 2020/4282 you stated that in relation to a public register of fire safety risk assessments for residential properties you “share the views of the London Fire Brigade that more detailed consideration be given to how such a scheme might work in practice.” Can you update me on progress you and the LFB are making looking into such a scheme and how it may work in practice and will you share the findings of the consideration being made by the LFB?

The Mayor: There are serious safety risks with having a public register of documents containing sensitive building safety information. There is a risk that individuals wishing to cause harm, for example through arson, could use this information to compromise public safety. While remote, this is a risk we must guard against.
In March, the Mayor recommended that Government legislate a duty to disclose fire risk assessments (FRAs) to residents and prospective buyers and renters, as there is currently no statutory obligation for Responsible Persons (such as building owners) to disclose FRAs. This would fill a gap in the legislation and improve resident access to building safety information. However, the decision to establish a public register of FRAs for residential properties would ultimately be a decision for central government. London Fire Brigade would work with government officials on a public register if asked to do so

Road danger

Unmesh Desai: How will you increase support for road danger victims and how will you work with the MPS to increase enforcement of this?

The Mayor: In my manifesto I committed to increasing support for victims of road danger, as well as continuing joint work with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to increase enforcement to tackle road danger.
Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime are working with leading road collision victim support groups to explore options for enhancing the support offered to those injured in or affected by fatal, life changing or life-threatening road traffic collisions in London. This should help more victims and bereaved families and enhance the level of support offered.
TfL continues to work with the MPS to enforce London’s roads, tackling the key sources of road danger.Given the risk that speeding poses, they are working to deliver a significant increase in speed enforcement through a combination of safety camera and on-street policing activity.

Use of bus lanes by non-emergency patient transport service vehicles (1)

Elly Baker: In May 2015 TfL was considering the case for allowing emergency ambulances in non-blue light situations to use bus lanes. Can you provide details on why TfL decided against a change in policy at that time? Please also publish any reports relating to the decision that was made.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) policy has always permitted identifiable NHS ambulances to use TfL bus lanes for ambulance purposes if the observance of the bus lane controls would hinder the use of the vehicle, including in non-blue light situations. TfL recognises that in some circumstances ambulances in non-blue light situations need to use bus lanes;therefore, no change in policy was required.

Police corruption report and investigations

Unmesh Desai: Please advise how many allegations of police corruption the Met have received, and how many investigations into police corruption the Met have launched each year since 2015.

The Mayor: The MPS has the largest anti-corruption unit of any law enforcement agency in the country and there are robust policies and systems in place regarding the professional standards expected of police officers and staff. Significant progress has been made, but the MPS acknowledges there remains more to do.
The tables below show the number of allegations of corruption and those investigated.
Allegations of Corruption
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Public Complaints
110
103
73
62
95
88
24
Conduct Matters
163
138
85
69
54
14
Total
273
241
158
131
95
142
38
Number Investigated
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Public Complaints
84
82
56
43
80
37
18
Conduct Matters
148
122
79
64
54
14
Number of covert investigations (data is only available by financial year).
FY
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
Covert investigations
69
26
52
64
49
60
64
Caution should be taken when making comparisons year to year as in 2018 the MPS migrated to a national recording system which did not allow for the recording of corruption as a specific breach type.
In 2020 new conduct regulations came into effect that allow all forces to record much broader allegations of corruption that include abuse of position of trust. Between the latter part of 2018 and early 2020 corruption allegations were captured under different breach types on the Centurion data system due to these data changes. This resulted in no conduct matters for corruption as a standalone category in 2019. Investigations can also come from information or intelligence received and this is why in some years the number of investigations is greater than the number of police complaints or conduct matters.
Further challenges exist in that there is no universal definition of corruption. It is generally understood to involve an abuse of office and/or position to the benefit or detriment of another. However, nationally the police have adopted the legal definition from 2015 legislation of “The improper exercise of a power or privilege for the purpose of achieving a personal benefit, or a benefit or detriment for another person.”

Disappearance’ of IA 16767 (3)

Keith Prince: If your narrative about how IA 16767 simply “disappeared” from Audit & Assurance’s purview is accurate, why does the 2016 Internal Audit Manual you attached to question 2021/0537 contain nothing about what happens when an audit is placed “on hold” nor when an audit becomes an “Integrated Assurance Audit”?

The Mayor: I refer to the answer to Mayor’s Question 2021/0537. Following a reorganisation in October 2017, the audit database was updated between July 2017 and April 2018 to reflect a division of the work across the new organisational structure with separate Internal Audit and Integrated Assurance audit teams. IA 16 767 was allocated to the new Integrated Assurance team.
Such organisational change would not be included within an audit manual.
As stated in the answer to Mayor’s Question 2021/0537, evidence gathering was nearing completion with report drafting underway when work was paused on audit IA 16 767. In light of the tragic event of 9 November 2016, it was decided that it would not be appropriate to continue with finalising the report. The audit was never completed as the work was superseded by the vital investigations into the Sandilands tragedy. In order for the report to be meaningful, further work would have had to have been carried out in relation to the incident itself. On that basis, it was not appropriate for Transport for London auditors to try to do this at a time when that work might prejudice or hamper the internal and external investigations into the Sandilands tragedy or pre-judge the investigations findings.
The audit manual did not cater for the extraordinary and unprecedented situation of a tragic incident occurring at the point at which the audit had reached.

LFB and safety advice for buildings at risk

Anne Clarke: What standard advice is given to residents in high risk buildings in order to prevent fires from starting? How is this communicated?

The Mayor: Risks associated with buildings are the responsibility of the designated Responsible Persons, including advising residents of potential safety measures associated with the fire risk assessment.
If a London Fire Brigade (LFB) fire safety inspection finds a building to be high risk, such as in cases where a prohibition or restriction notice is issued, then the Borough Commander will work locally to provide appropriate advice on prevention, detection and escape. This could include in person Home Fire Safety Visits from crews.
LFB also communicates fire safety advice in a range for formats for residents across London. In 2014, the Brigade launched Know the Plan to increase awareness of fire safety for people who live in, own or manage purpose-built flats or maisonettes. LFB also recently launched the Home Fire Safety Checker – an innovative online tool which allows residents to understand risks in their home. I would encourage all Londoners to use it: https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/the-home/home-fire-safety/

TfL’s cleaning contract with ABM (1)

Elly Baker: The tender process for the cleaning contract has already begun under contract reference 23723. Can you outline the tender process, including dates, so we can be clear the process that will be followed up to the tender being awarded on 31 January 2022?

The Mayor: The 2017 Cleaning Services contract is the existing contract and Transport for London is currently not in any tendering process for this service.

Non-permanent labour

Elly Baker: The Transport for London quarterly performance report Quarter 3 2020/21 shows a 76% reduction in non-permanent labour (NPL) costs between December 2015 and December 2020. What targets, if any, do you have for the number of NPL and their weekly costs in the future?

The Mayor: During my first term in office, Transport for London (TfL) exceeded its 50 per cent reduction target for non-permanent labour costs. TfL will deliver my 2021 manifesto commitment to minimise expenditure on agency workers and will review organisational requirements and targets in due course.
TfL requires some flexibility in its approach to using agency workers, which currently make up just three per cent of the total workforce. TfL will continue to make use of the flexibility afforded by using agency workers to deliver critical work and projects including IT specialist roles where specific skills are required for a short period of time and where it is cost efficient to do so.

Refusal to Benchmark London’s Transport Worker Covid-19 Deaths against Peer World Cities

Keith Prince: Taking into account your negative response to question 2020/2574 does London’s poor showing for pedestrian deaths from buses on the independently-constructed international benchmark—as evidenced in your response to Question 2020/3828 - explain your reluctance to independently benchmark London’s Transport Worker Covid-19 Deaths against Peer World Cities?

The Mayor: I am not reluctant to participate in benchmarking London’s Transport Worker Covid-19 Deaths against Peer World Cities. The International Bus Benchmarking Group (IBBG), of which Transport for London (TfL) is a founding member, conducts benchmarking on a wide range of measures. IBBG has introduced a new indicator on Covid-19-positive staff fatalities for 2020 as part of its annual Key Performance Indicator (KPI) benchmarking process and TfL is participating in this round of KPI benchmarking. TfL expects to receive KPI benchmarking information from IBBG in late 2021.
The safety measures TfL is introducing as part of Vision Zero will ultimately make our roads safer and help eliminate pedestrian fatalities in the long term. This must happen if we are to achieve ambitious targets of no deaths on or by a bus by 2030 and no deaths or serious injuries on our roads by 2041.
More recently, to ensure we were responding to the coronavirus pandemic in the best way, TfL commissioned two independent studies by University College London’s Institute of Health Equity (UCL IHE). These highlighted national lockdown measures as making the biggest single difference to protecting bus driver lives. This work and supporting advice also informed TfL’s work to seal off drivers cabs as much as possible and more recently to put blocks on bus windows to keep them open and enhance air flow.
I’m satisfied that this area has been scrutinised in great depth and in the right areas to safeguard transport workers and the travelling public.

Operational Incidents on the Tram Network

Keith Prince: Further to your response to Question 2021/0420 please provide me with a copy of the "new reporting procedure...which clearly lays out the requirements for the reporting of operational incidents” and copies of all communications (emails, letters, hand-written notes) associated with this action.

The Mayor: Please see the document attached to the response to Mayor’s Question 2021/1408 from Caroline Pidgeon AM. The request for “all communications (emails, letters, hand-written notes) associated with this action” would require an extensive level of searching to be carried out by Transport for London (TfL). You will be aware that TfL resources are extremely limited at the moment and so searching for and then providing any such documents would not be an appropriate or proportionate use of public resources.

Contract Notice to First Group TOL about Tram Safety Incidents

Keith Prince: In your response to 2021/0556 you state "TfL has also issued a contract notice to TOL highlighting the serious nature of the Mitcham incident and the breach of subsequent provisions regarding regulatory reporting”. Please send me a copy of this contract notice and all documentation (emails, directives, meeting minutes, handwritten notes) associated with it.

The Mayor: Please find attached the notice.
The request for “all documentation (emails, directives, meeting minutes, handwritten notes) associated with it” would require an extensive level of searching to be carried out by Transport for London (TfL). You will be aware that TfL resources are extremely limited at the moment and so searching for and then providing any such documents would not be an appropriate or proportionate use of public resources.

The Mayor: 1983 - 201223 Notice of Minor Breach.pdf

Hospital data for violence prevention - the Cardiff Model (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: How are you working with the Met and Borough Councils to make the best use of the helpful data collected through the Cardiff Model of data gathering?

The Mayor: The Information Sharing to Tackle Violence programme (ISTV), which is delivered and managed through the GLA Strategic Crime Analysis team, and is developed from the Cardiff model, work closely with the MPS and boroughs to optimise their use of the dataset.
Specific activities over the last year have included: the creation of a new ISTV website (which makes resources and example case studies available to analysts, researchers, policy makers and health professionals), making data available to a wider range of MPS users, and the launch of a redeveloped SafeStats platform which has made the data easier to query. The team are also developing standard analysis packs summarising the data for users (including borough Community Safety Partnerships) and as part of the feedback process to hospitals. Boroughs are using ISTV data in a variety of ways such as informing the local intelligence picture, looking at the impact of Covid-19 on local hotspots, licensing decisions and informing their strategic assessments.
The team are also working closely with the NHS Violence Reduction Programme to support the incorporation of ISTV data into the standard NHS Emergency Care Dataset (ECDS) and to allow analysis of a wider range of demographic characteristics alongside ISTV data, so that it can be used to better target and evaluate the impact of violence interventions.

Vehicle Scrappage Schemes (3)

Elly Baker: What plans, if any, do you have to extend the scrappage schemes to emergency service workers?

The Mayor: My scrappage schemes are proving extremely popular in providing financial support to small businesses, charities operating minibuses and low-income and disabled Londoners to scrap their older, more polluting vehicles.. The £52 million fund has helped scrap over 9,650 older, more polluting vehicles. I pledged in my manifesto that I would explore extending the scheme to emergency service workers, as well as calling on the government to commit resources at a national level to help eradicate toxic air pollution in our city.
Given the popularity of my scrappage schemes, limited funds remain and these are prioritised to support low income and disabled Londoners. Additional funding would now be required to extend the schemes and I will continue to call on government to work together with London and other cities introducing Clean Air Zones to create a national scrappage scheme which would include at least matching my funding of £52 million for London.

Croydon Tram Crash (1)

Neil Garratt: Considering the well-evidenced allegations in the former TfL Board Director and Safety Panel Chair’s 8 April 2021 public letter to Simon French, RAIB as well as the 5 City AM news reports since 26 October 2020, do you regret your 1 October 2019 decision to reject the London Assembly’s 4 July 2019 Motion requesting you to appoint an Independent Investigator to conduct a review of what appears to be TfL’s obstructive behaviour during the Croydon Tram Crash investigations?

The Mayor: As you will be aware, the Inquests touching on the deaths of Dane Chinnery, Donald Collett, Robert Huxley, Philip Logan, Dorota Rynkiewicz, Philip Seary and Mark Smith have commenced before the Senior Coroner and a jury. The Inquests will determine how and in what circumstances they tragically died. The Senior Coroner will also consider the actions taken to make sure a similar tragedy does not happen again and whether any further steps should be taken.
In the light of these proceedings it is appropriate to await the outcome of the Inquests before commenting further on issues which may be considered as part of that process.
My thoughts remain with the families and friends of those who lost their lives, and with all those affected.

Step-Free Elizabeth Line

Elly Baker: How many of the 41 stations on the Elizabeth line have a) been made step-free as a result of the Crossrail Programme; b) been made set free as a result of another step-free programme; or c) were existing step-free stations? Please name every station in each category and the date they became/will become step-free?

The Mayor: The stations that have been or will be made step free as a result of the Crossrail Programme are listed below in two separate sections.The first deals with those new stations that the Crossrail Programme is constructing, while the second deals with stations on the existing National Rail network where the Crossrail Programme is providing step-free access.
New stations/platforms being delivered by the Crossrail Programme are listed below:
Step-free access will be provided to the Elizabeth line platforms at each of these new stations/platforms when they open to the public.
Stations on the existing National Rail network where the Crossrail Programme is providing step-free access are listed below:
The stations that have been made step-free as a result of another step-free programme are listed below:
The stations that were existing step free stations prior to the commencement of the Crossrail Programme are listed below:

Changes to the Congestion Charge

Caroline Pidgeon: Following the temporary changes to the Congestion Charge in June 2020 and the ending of the residents’ discount from August 2020, when will the consultation on permanent changes to the Congestion Charge commence? Please also set out how this consultation process will be undertaken.

The Mayor: The residents’ discount continues to be available for those who met and continue to meet the residency requirements on or before 31 July 2020 and had applied for the discount by this date.
The proposals to widen the scope and level of the Congestion Charge were brought forward urgently last year as part of Transport for London’s (TfL’s) funding agreement with Government and are in response to the emergency situation arising from the pandemic. If TfL considers there is a need for permanent changes to be made to the Congestion Charge outside the scope of a response to the pandemic, then a public consultation will be undertaken. TfL would carry out a full formal statutory consultation on the proposed changes which would be hosted on its new consultation portal (haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk) and awareness would be raised through a marketing campaign and engagement with stakeholders.

Croydon Tram Crash (4)

Neil Garratt: Do you believe that fatigue risk management was definitively “not a factor in the accident at Sandilands junction”?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2021/2018.

Croydon Tram Crash (3)

Neil Garratt: Do you recognise that First Group TOL’s fatigue management system did not meet industry standards?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2021/2018.

Remote Sign-On Documentation

Keith Prince: Please provide me with all internal and external communication (including copies of minutes, emails, decision memorandums and handwritten notes) TfL has conducted with regard to Remote Sign-On since it was first implemented.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) has advised that a search for this volume of data dating back up to 15 years would take far longer than 18 hours of officer time. However, attached to this response is its recent ‘Request for Quote’, which outlines the scope of the independent research into remote sign-on for bus drivers which TfL is commissioning.

The Mayor: 1963 RFQ - Remote Sign On FINAL.pdf

Disappearance’ of IA 16767 (1)

Keith Prince: In your response to 2021/0537 you state—inter alia—that regarding IA 16767 (a) “the audit was never completed” (b) ”in order for the report to be meaningful, further work would have had to have been carried out in relation to the incident itself” (c) “was placed “on hold” in November 2016 and (d) “IA 16 767 had been allocated to the Integrated Assurance team, when it was moved from ‘on hold’ to ‘cancelled’, this was not included in the reporting to the Audit and Assurance Committee as currently happens for internal audits.”
With reference to the detailed explanation you provided in Question 2021/0537, if IA 16767 was never completed why does the 25 October 2016 draft you made available from your data release in Question 2019/17349 show a Conclusion “Adequately Controlled” on its front cover?

The Mayor: As you note, the report provided was a draft and had not been signed off by Internal Audit or shared with others. The draft conclusion on the cover forming part of the draft report would have been included in the review of the draft report by the audit manager which was in progress at the time of the incident.

Moratorium on Remote Sign On and Bus Routes

Keith Prince: With TfL’s Moratorium on Remote Sign On in place from 26 March 2021 until a TfL-commissioned report has been conducted, will TfL suspend the Remote Sign On currently in place on Metroline Routes 139, 306 and 328, Arriva Routes 2, 19, 38, 73 and Tower Transit Routes C2 and 3?

The Mayor: There is no moratorium as you suggest. Metroline continues to use this arrangement where it has already been adopted, but has recently agreed with Unite the Union that they will not be introducing any new remote sign on facilities until at least the end of 2022.
The research will be commissioned by Transport for London (TfL) from summer, and the findings will be shared with the main stakeholders by winter. This will help the industry decide on whether to introduce remote sign on in the future.

Hammersmith Bridge

Nicholas Rogers: What is the Mayor doing, on behalf of residents on both sides of the River, to ask Hammersmith & Fulham Council to commit to making a reasonable financial contribution to fixing Hammersmith Bridge?

The Mayor: The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF) owns Hammersmith Bridge. The Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce, bringing together key stakeholders, including LBHF, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Transport for London (TfL) and the Port of London Authority, is still in discussions about how the total funding is split fairly between TfL, LBHF and the Department for Transport (DfT) but TfL’s funding agreement confirms that DfT will not directly pay more than a third. TfL will also provide professional support to the borough’s team.
The need for a temporary pedestrian and cycle ferry remains unchanged and on 30 March TfL announced the operator appointed to run the temporary Hammersmith ferry service. More information on that can be found on the TfL website: https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2021/march/-tfl-appoints-operator-to-run-temporary-hammersmith-ferry-service.

Implementation of PN633

Anne Clarke: What work has your office been undertaking to find the middle ground in order to implement PN633?

The Mayor: The newHigh Rise Firefighting policy (PN633), which provides incident commanders andfirefighterswith a range of new and revisedproceduresto be used in high-rise firefighting, is about to come into force.The new policy is the product of careful and extensive scrutiny in consultation with the FBU and is designed to address the challenges faced by London Fire Brigade in responding to high-rise fires in London and is informed by the lessons learned from the Grenfell Tower fire. The London Fire Commissioner (LFC) and the FBU were unable to reach agreement on one aspect of the proposed policy. This relates to the provisions for incident commanders, under exceptional circumstances where fire safety measures in a building are at risk of failing, to send firefighters above the bridgehead initially in clean air with Breathing Apparatus (BA) not started up, subject to appropriate controls. In accordance with consultation duties the LFC convened a Health and Safety Advisory Panel, and the LFC, having considered the Chair’s recommendations, has decided this particular procedure will be removed from the final policy pending further consultation with key stakeholders on a national basis.

Police complaints

Susan Hall: For 2020, how many complaints have been received about Met police officers, and how many of these were upheld?

The Mayor: The number of public complaints is recorded in terms of both cases (also known as ‘incidents’) and the aggregate number of allegations contained within those cases. Each case can include multiple allegations of improper conduct and the same type of allegation may be made against more than one officer attending an incident.
In 2020, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) recorded 7,783 complaint cases. These incorporated a total of 15,631 allegations. The data includes complaints received about police officers and police staff.
In February 2020 reforms to the complaints system introduced new terminology to provide greater clarity over the outcome of a complaint. The term ‘upheld’ was replaced with ‘case to answer’ and ‘service provided was not acceptable’.
As of end of April 2021, 1,074 (7%) of the 15,631 allegations recorded in 2020 there was either a case to answer or the service provided was not acceptable.
3,388 (22%) of the allegations are still being investigated so that number will increase as the remaining 2020 cases are finalised.

TfL’s cleaning contract with ABM (3)

Elly Baker: What estimates, if any, have you made on the difference in costs between insourcing or outsourcing the cleaning contract with ABM. Please provide details of the costs and what they relate to.

The Mayor: Transport for London will be reviewing cleaning as an operational service. Differences in costs between insourcing or outsourcing the cleaning contract will form part of this review.

Operational Incidents on the Tram Network

Caroline Pidgeon: Further to your response to Question 2021/0420please provide details of the"new reporting procedure which clearly lays out the requirements for the reporting of operational incidents”.

The Mayor: Please see the document attached.

The Mayor: 1408 Accident and Incident Reporting and Investigation LT-JMS-PROC-0001 Dec 2020.pdf

Moratorium on Remote Sign-On

Keith Prince: On 26 March 2021 Unite the Union published a press release (https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2021/march/mayor-s-morato...) which alleged “Following intense lobbying from Unite, and with the growing possibility of London-wide strike action over bus operators being able to move towards a remote sign on model when bidding for routes, Sadiq Khan instructed the board at Transport for London (TfL) to introduce an immediate moratorium.” Please provide me with copies of (a) TfL’s ‘moratorium’ instruction (b) any Mayoral correspondence with the bus operator and Unite about said moratorium and (c) the terms of reference for the report that Unite’s press release also alleges you have promised that union “full input into the development.”

The Mayor: I welcome the lead that Transport for London (TfL) has taken to gain a better understanding of the potential benefits and risks of remote sign on by commissioning independent research into this matter. While this practice affects a relatively small proportion of drivers on relatively few routes, it is something that needs to be looked at in more depth before further introduction
There is no moratorium as you suggest. However, Metroline has recently agreed with Unite the Union that they will not be introducing any new remote sign on facilities until at least the end of 2022.
Unite the Union has been involved in developing the scope of the research so that driver concerns are taken into consideration. TfL envisages the research being commissioned by summer and sharing the outcomes with key stakeholders including Unite the Union by winter.
My team will carefully consider the outcome of the independent research when it becomes as we are keen to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for good of staff and customers alike.

Croydon Tram Crash (2)

Neil Garratt: Do you accept that a key factor in the Sandilands Crash was the driver suffering a microsleep?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2021/2018.

2017 Amended and Restated Operating Agreement between TOL and TfL

Keith Prince: In your response to question 2020/1100 you sent me a link to a TOL-TfL “2017 Amended and Restated Operating Agreement” that is obviously in draft format. When (a) was this specific version of the operating agreement agreed and signed with TOL? and (b) did it come into effect? Can you assure me that the version that TfL has made publicly available on its website (http://content.tfl.gov.uk/croydon-agreement-redacted-version.pdf) is the agreement that is presently in effect? If so, kindly send me a copy of the signed and dated version of this contract.

The Mayor: The Amended and Restated Operating Agreement was executed on 16 November 2017. It came into effect on that date. I attach the dated cover sheet and the execution page. The terms are as contained in the document on the website.

The Mayor: 1954 Contract-LT-C-17-472 Tol Operating Agreement 16 Nov 2017 extracted pages_Redacted.pdf

Breaking Down Barriers Recommendation (9)

Susan Hall: Will you commit to the recommendation in my March 2021 policy report “Breaking Down Barriers” to instruct TfL to review its step-free access rollout to identify where this can be accelerated across the London Underground Network?

The Mayor: Improving the accessibility of London’s transport network remains a priority for Transport for London (TfL) and me. Since May 2016, 14 Tube stations have become step-free and five more are scheduled by the end of this year. By March 2022, there will be 92 step-free Tube stations – a third of the network.
However, a third of the network is not enough, and I am committed to further increasing the accessibility of the Tube network subject to the constraints of the Government funding deal agreed on 1 June following the devastating impact of the pandemic on TfL’s finances. In the meantime, TfL continues to work with stakeholders and developers to explore options for funding further work at more locations.
TfL has recently started working on a detailed methodology which will help determine which stations would be the best candidates for step-free access in future. In my manifesto, I committed TfL to developing its future step-free programme in collaboration with disabled and older Londoners, and this will form a vital piece of this work. This process will take time, and TfL will share updates with relevant stakeholders in due course.

West Brompton Station platform 3

Caroline Pidgeon: The platform is currently in a poor state and considered by some passengers to be an eyesore since the station garden was destroyed in 2008. Currently the black plastic tarpaulin which was installed when the garden was destroyed is now decomposing and could become a health risk if not removed. Will TfL consider restoring the station to its former greener state?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) recognises the importance of greenery in improving the overall environment in its stations and is currently exploring the cost and availability of budget for reinstating this particular garden.
I have asked TfL to keep you informed of its progress.